Client identifier watermarks in media signals

ABSTRACT

Client identifier watermarks in media signals are disclosed. An example apparatus to watermark a multilayered file includes a watermark storage to store media identifiers. The example apparatus also includes an encoder to encode a first bit sequence in the media file on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, the first bit sequence to include a client identifier of a client associated with the media file, and encode a second bit sequence in the media file on a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the second bit sequence to include a media identifier to identify media corresponding to the media file.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to media watermarking and, moreparticularly, to client identifier watermarks in media signals.

BACKGROUND

Watermarks can be embedded or otherwise included in media to enableadditional information to be conveyed with the media. For example, audiowatermarks can be embedded and/or included in the audio data/signalportion of a media stream, file and/or signal to convey data, such asmedia identification information, copyright protection information,etc., associated with the media. These watermarks enable monitoring ofthe distribution and/or use of media, such as by detecting watermarkspresent in television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, streamed multimedia,etc., to identify the particular media being presented to viewers,listeners, users, etc. The information can be valuable to advertisers,content providers, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example media monitoring system inaccordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic overview of an example implementation of anexample watermark system that can be implemented in examples disclosedherein.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrates example watermarks that can be implemented inexamples disclosed herein.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example media monitoring systemof FIG. 1 and/or the example watermark system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example media monitoring systemof FIG. 1 and/or the example watermark system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 4 and/or 5 to implement the examplemedia monitoring system of FIG. 1 and/or the example watermark system ofFIG. 2.

The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts. Descriptors “first,”“second,” “third,” etc. are used herein when identifying multipleelements or components which may be referred to separately. Unlessotherwise specified or understood based on their context of use, suchdescriptors are not intended to impute any meaning of priority, physicalorder or arrangement in a list, or ordering in time but are merely usedas labels for referring to multiple elements or components separatelyfor ease of understanding the disclosed examples. In some examples, thedescriptor “first” may be used to refer to an element in the detaileddescription, while the same element may be referred to in a claim with adifferent descriptor such as “second” or “third.” In such instances, itshould be understood that such descriptors are used merely for ease ofreferencing multiple elements or components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Client identifier watermarks in media signals are disclosed. Watermarkscan be embedded or otherwise included in media to enable additionalinformation to be conveyed with the media. The watermarks enablemonitoring of the distribution and/or use of media by identifying theparticular media being presented to viewers, listeners, users, etc. Theinformation can be valuable to advertisers, content providers, and thelike. Some known media monitoring systems employing watermarks typicallyinclude watermark encoders that encode watermarks that are unique forindividual media content files. However, depending on the encodingmethodology employed, the number of available identifiers can belimited, especially across different media content providers and/ordistributors.

Some watermark encoding techniques are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/955,245 (U.S. Pat. No. 9,711,152), entitledSYSTEMS, APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR ENCODING/DECODING PERSISTENTUNIVERSAL MEDIA CODES TO ENCODED AUDIO, U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/955,438 (U.S. Publication No. 2015/0039321), entitled APPARATUS,SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR READING CODES FROM DIGITAL AUDIO ON A PROCESSINGDEVICE, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/023,221 (U.S. PublicationNo. 2015/0039322), entitled APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MERGINGCODE LAYERS FOR AUDIO ENCODING AND DECODING, and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/587,995 (U.S. Pat. No. 9,418,395), entitled POWER EFFICIENTDETECTION OF WATERMARKS IN MEDIA SIGNALS. Some other watermarkingtechniques are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/994,383(U.S. Publication No. 2019/0373309), entitled METHODS AND APPARATUS TOIDENTIFY MEDIA BASED ON WATERMARKS ACROSS DIFFERENT AUDIO STREAMS AND/ORDIFFERENT WATERMARKING TECHNIQUES.

Examples disclosed herein enable watermarks with identifiers that areassociated with and/or assigned to a specific client in contrast toidentifiers (i.e., universal identifiers) utilized for multiple clients.Examples disclosed herein utilize assigned client identifiers (e.g.,media content producer identifiers, media content distributoridentifiers, etc.) with associated media identifiers (e.g., contentidentifiers, media identifier time stamps, media source identifiers,etc.), thereby enabling creation of a relatively large number of uniqueidentifiers. In some examples, a first bit sequence corresponding to aclient identifier is defined (e.g., encoded) onto a first encoding layerof a multilayered watermark applied to a media file. Further, a secondbit sequence pertaining to a content identifier is defined (e.g.,encoded) onto a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark.Accordingly, by identifying clients within the multilayered watermark,examples disclosed herein enable a relatively large number ofidentifiers.

In some examples, the aforementioned media identifiers are received at adata processing facility from a client facility (e.g., a client facilityfor a content provider/generator). In some such examples, the mediaidentifiers are generated, assigned and/or distributed by the clientfacility. In some examples, a digital file, such as an audio file, iswatermarked with the first and second bit sequences on differentrespective audio watermarking layers. In some examples, the mediaidentifier includes a time stamp and/or timestamp information.Additionally or alternatively, the time stamp is encoded onto at leastone of the first or second encoding layers.

Turning to the figures, a block diagram of an example media monitoringsystem 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The example media monitoring system100 supports monitoring of media presented at one or more monitoredsites, such as an example monitored site 105 illustrated in FIG. 1. Themonitored site 105 includes an example media device (e.g., a mediapresentation device) 110. Although the example of FIG. 1 illustrates onemonitored site 105 and one media device 110, examples disclosed hereincan be implemented in media monitoring systems 100 supporting any numberof monitored sites 105 having any number of media devices 110.

The media monitoring system 100 of the illustrated example includes anexample media device meter 125, also referred to as a meter 125, a sitemeter 125, a site unit 125, a home unit 125, a portable device 125,etc., to monitor media presented by the media device 110. In theillustrated example, the media monitored by the media device meter 125can correspond to any type of media presentable by the media device 110.For example, monitored media can correspond to media content, such atelevision programs, radio programs, movies, Internet video,video-on-demand, etc., as well as commercials, advertisements, etc. Inthis example, the media device meter 125 determines metering data thatmay identify and/or be used to identify media presented by the mediadevice (and, thus, infer media exposure) at the monitored site 105. Themedia device meter 125 then stores and reports this metering data via anexample network 135 to an example data processing facility 140. In thisexample, the data processing facility 140 performs any appropriatepost-processing of the metering data to, for example, determine audienceratings information, identify targeted advertising to be provided to themonitored site 105, etc. In the illustrated example, the network 135 cancorrespond to any type(s) and/or number of wired and/or wireless datanetworks, or any combination thereof.

In the illustrated example, the media device 110 monitored by the mediadevice meter 125 can correspond to any type of audio, video and/ormultimedia presentation device capable of presenting media audiblyand/or visually. For example, the media device 110 can correspond to atelevision and/or display device that supports the National TelevisionStandards Committee (NTSC) standard, the Phase Alternating Line (PAL)standard, the Système Électronique pour Couleur avec Mémoire (SECAM)standard, a standard developed by the Advanced Television SystemsCommittee (ATSC), such as high definition television (HDTV), a standarddeveloped by the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Project, etc. As otherexamples, the media device 110 can correspond to a multimedia computersystem, a personal digital assistant, a cellular/mobile smartphone, aradio, a tablet computer, etc.

In the media monitoring system 100 of the illustrated example, the mediadevice meter 125 and the data processing facility 140 cooperate toperform media monitoring based on detecting media watermarks. Examplesof watermarks include identification codes, ancillary codes, etc., thatmay be transmitted within media signals. For example, identificationcodes can be transmitted as watermarked data embedded or otherwiseincluded with media (e.g., inserted into the audio, video, or metadatastream of media) to uniquely identify broadcasters and/or media (e.g.,content or advertisements). Watermarks can additionally or alternativelybe used to carry other types of data, such as copyright protectioninformation, secondary data (e.g., such as one or more hyperlinkspointing to secondary media retrievable via the Internet and associatedwith the primary media carrying the watermark), commands to control oneor more devices, etc. Watermarks are typically extracted using adecoding operation. Examples disclosed herein utilize watermarks thatidentify media information, as well as client identity information.

In contrast to watermarks, signatures are a representation of somecharacteristic of the media signal (e.g., a characteristic of thefrequency spectrum of the signal). Signatures can be thought of asfingerprints. They are typically not dependent upon insertion of data inthe media, but instead preferably reflect an inherent characteristic ofthe media and/or the signal transporting the media. Systems to utilizecodes and/or signatures for audience measurement are long known. See,for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294 to Thomas et al., which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the media device meter 125 isimplemented by a portable device including an example watermark detector145 and an example watermark detector controller 150. In the illustratedexample, the watermark detector 145 detects watermark(s) in mediasignal(s) output from a monitored media device, such as the examplemedia device 110. In the illustrated example, the watermark detectorcontroller 150 controls operation of the watermark detector 145. In someexamples, the media device meter 125 corresponds to a special purposeportable device constructed to implement the example watermark detector145 and the example watermark detector controller 150. In otherexamples, the media device meter 125 corresponds to any portable devicecapable of being adapted (e.g., via hardware changes, software changes,firmware changes, etc., or any combination thereof) to implement theexample watermark detector 145 and the example watermark detectorcontroller 150. As such, the media device meter 125 can be implementedby a smartphone, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a wrist-watchtype device, other wearable devices, a special purpose device, etc. Insome examples, the media device meter 125 can be implemented by aportable device that, although portable, is intended to be relativelystationary. Furthermore, in some examples, the media device meter 125can be implemented by or otherwise included in the media device 110,such as when the media device 110 corresponds to a portable device(e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, a handheld device, etc.) capableof presenting media. This implementation can be especially useful inexample scenarios in which a media monitoring application is executed onthe media device 110 itself, but the media device 110 prevents (e.g.,via digital rights management or other techniques) third-partyapplications, such as the media monitoring application, from accessingprotected media data stored on the media device 110.

In some examples, the client facility 142 is implemented to assignand/or designate the watermarks for encoding and/or de-coding by thedata processing facility 140. For example, the watermarks can begenerated and encoded onto the media at the client facility 142. Theclient facility 142 can correspond to a content generator, distributorand/or producer. In some examples, the client facility 142 assigns thewatermarks to content for later identification by the data processingfacility 140. In some such examples, the client facility 142 transmitsthe watermarks to the data processing facility 140 for identificationbased on data received from the media device meter 125.

FIG. 2 is a schematic overview of an example watermark system 200 toimplement examples disclosed herein. The watermark system 200 of theillustrated example may be implemented in the data processing facility140, the client facility 142 and/or the media device meter 125 ofFIG. 1. The example watermark system 200 includes a watermark analyzer202, which is communicatively coupled to a watermark storage 201 and theexample network 135. In turn, the example watermark analyzer 202includes a watermark logger 204, an encoder 206, a watermark identifier208 and a timer/counter 210.

The watermark logger 204 of the illustrated example stores, identifiesand/or designates watermarks to be encoded onto a multilayered watermarkapplied to a media file (e.g., a multilayered watermark applied to anaudio file, a multilayered watermark applied to a digital file, amultilayer watermark encoded into a video file, etc.). In some examples,the watermarks are retrieved by the watermark logger 204 from thewatermark storage 201, which can include watermarks received from theclient facility 142 via the network 135. In some such examples, theclient facility 142 of a media content provider provides the watermarksto the watermark storage 201 via the network 135. Particularly, thecontent provider can generate and produce the content with encodedwatermarks and, in turn, provide the watermarks for storage in thewatermark storage 201 for later identification by the data processingfacility 140.

In the illustrated example, the encoder 206 is implemented to encode bitsequences onto multiple watermarking layers of a multilayered watermark.For example, the example encoder 206 encodes a first bit sequence onto afirst watermarking layer (e.g., a first audio watermarking layer) of themultilayered watermark and a second bit sequence onto a secondwatermarking layer (e.g., a second audio watermarking layer) of themultilayered watermark, as discussed in further detail below inconnection with FIGS. 3A-3C. In this example, the first bit sequencecorresponds to a client identifier while the second bit sequencecorresponds to a media identifier. Further, in this example the firstand second bit sequences are placed at regular intervals (e.g., bitnumber intervals, time intervals, an interval based on a predeterminednumber of bits, etc.). The first and second bit sequences can be 8-bit,16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit, etc. or any other appropriate number of bits. Insome examples, the encoder 206 is implemented at the client facility142.

The example watermark identifier 208 is implemented to decode and/oranalyze the watermarks with the aforementioned first and second bitsequences. In the illustrated example, the watermark identifier receivesand/or identifies watermark information (e.g., symbols, numbers, etc.)and determines a client along with a corresponding media identifier(e.g., a content identifier with or without a corresponding timestamp)from each of the watermarks. For example, the watermark identifierdetermines a client and a media identifier along with correspondingtimestamp information for specific media content. In some examples, thewatermark identifier 208 identifies a client prior to determining amedia identifier to enable time and computer processing efficientwatermark determinations.

In some examples, the timer/counter 210 determines and/or controlstiming and/or sequencing of the first and second bit sequences. In somesuch examples, the timer/counter 210 determines periodic spacing betweenbit sequences on one or more layers of the multilayered watermarkencoded in the media file. For example, the timer/counter 210 controlsperiodic spacing between ones of the first and second bit sequences(e.g., the first and second bit sequences are repeated at regular timeand/or bit intervals on their respective encoding layers). Additionallyor alternatively, the timer/counter 210 varies a timing between ones ofthe first or second bit sequences based on varying desired meteringgranularity (e.g., at different portions of the multilayered watermarkencoded in the media file), for example.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate example watermarks that can be implemented inexamples disclosed herein. The watermarks can be detected by the examplemedia device monitor 100 of FIG. 1. Turning to FIG. 3A, an examplewatermark 300 is shown. In this example, the watermark 300 is placed onmultiple separate watermark encoding layers (e.g., separate audiowatermarking layers) 302, 304. In some examples, a multilayer audiowatermark can include multiple audio watermarking layers (also calledaudio encoding layers) in which different layers use frequencycomponents from different frequency ranges or groups of frequency ranges(e.g., frequency components from different groups of frequency bins) ofthe audio signal/file to encode watermark symbols in their respectivelayers. For example, a first audio watermarking layer may use frequencycomponents selected from a first group of frequency bins to encode afirst set of watermark symbols in the audio signal/file, and a secondaudio watermarking layer may use frequency components selected from asecond group of frequency bins to encode a second set of watermarksymbols in the audio signal/file, with at least some of the frequencybins in the first and second groups being different.

In the illustrated example, the encoding layer 302 includes a bitsequence 306 while the encoding layer 304 includes a bit sequence 307.The bit sequence 306 includes symbols 308 (hereinafter 308A, 308B, 308C,308D, 308E, 308F, 308G, 308H, etc.) that correspond to a mediaidentifier 208. Further, symbols 310 (hereinafter 310A, 310B, 310C,310D, etc.) represent a timestamp 212 and the bit sequence 307 includessymbols 320 (hereinafter 320A, 320B, 320C, 320D, 320E, 320F, 320G, 320H,320I, 320K, 320L, etc.). In this particular example, the clientidentifier 320 is placed on a different encoding layer from the mediaidentifier 308 and/or the timestamp 312. Further, the first and secondbit sequences 306, 307 are located and/or positioned to besimultaneously read and/or parsed out from the media content. In otherwords, the first and second bit sequences 306, 307 are simultaneouslyread and/or parsed in parallel by the media device monitor 125.

By including the client identifier 320 on at least one of the encodinglayers 302, 304, media identification is not limited to universalnumbering (e.g., across multiple media content sources or distributors),thereby enabling a large number of available numbers. In other words,unique media identifiers are, in effect, multiplied. Further, encodingthe client identifier 320 onto the content enables media sources and/orproviders to define and, thus, manage their own media identifiers,thereby reducing (e.g., eliminating) a need for an external intermediaryto manage the media identifiers amongst several content providers.

In this example, the bit sequences 306, 307 each include 12 symbols.However, any appropriate number of symbols and/or bits can beimplemented instead. Further, the example bit sequences 306, 307 can beimplemented on any appropriate file type including, but not limited to,audio files, video files, encoded transmissions, file downloads, etc. Insome examples, a time stamp is integrated with a media identifier sothat the media identifier identifies both media content andcorresponding time stamp information (e.g., symbols correspond to atimestamp of specific media content).

Turning to FIG. 3B, an alternative example watermark 330 is shown. Thewatermark 330 is defined on encoding layers 332, 334. In contrast to theexample watermark 300 of FIG. 3A, symbols 336 (hereinafter 336A, 336B,336C, 336D, 336E, 336F, 336G, 336H, etc.) pertaining to a clientidentifier are placed on the same bit layer 332 as symbols 338(hereinafter 338A, 338B, 338C, 338D, etc.) corresponding to a timestamp.In the illustrated example, symbols 340 (hereinafter 340A, 340B, 340C,340D, 340E, 340F, 340G, 340H, 340I, 340J, 340K, 340L, etc.) correspondto a media identifier.

FIG. 3C depicts an alternative example watermark 341 in which at leastone of a media identifier, a time stamp and/or a client identifier isdefined on multiple encoding layers 342, 344. In the illustrated exampleof FIG. 3C, the watermark 341 is encoded onto encoding layers 342, 344.In particular, the first encoding layer 342 includes symbols 346(hereinafter 346A, 346B, 346C, 346D, 346E, 346F, 346G, 346H, etc.) thatcorrespond to a media identifier and the second encoding layer 344includes symbols 348 (hereinafter 348A, 348B, 348C, 348D, etc.) thatalso correspond to the media identifier. Accordingly, in some examples,at least portions of the encoding layers 342, 344 can be appended and/oradded together to indicate and/or decode the media identifier. In thisexample, symbols 350 (hereinafter 350A. 350B, 350C, 350D, 350E, 350F,350G, 350H, etc.) correspond to a client identifier. Further, in thisexample, symbols 352 (hereinafter 352A. 352B, 352C, 352D, etc.)correspond to a time stamp.

While an example manner of implementing the watermark system 200 of FIG.2 is illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the elements, processesand/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example watermark logger 204, the example encoder 206, theexample watermark identifier 208, the example timer/counter 210 and/or,more generally, the example watermark system 200 of FIG. 2 may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination ofhardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of theexample watermark logger 204, the example encoder 206, the examplewatermark identifier 208, the example timer/counter 210 and/or, moregenerally, the example watermark system 200 could be implemented by oneor more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmableprocessor(s), programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s)(GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specificintegrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s))and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any ofthe apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example watermarklogger 204, the example encoder 206, the example watermark identifier208, and/or the example timer/counter 210 is/are hereby expresslydefined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device orstorage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compactdisk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware.Further still, the example watermark system 200 of FIG. 2 may includeone or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, orinstead of, those illustrated in FIG. 4, and/or may include more thanone of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. Asused herein, the phrase “in communication,” including variationsthereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communicationthrough one or more intermediary components, and does not require directphysical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, butrather additionally includes selective communication at periodicintervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-timeevents.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the watermark system 200 of FIG. 2are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The machine readable instructions may be oneor more executable programs or portion(s) of an executable program forexecution by a computer processor such as the processor 612 shown in theexample processor platform 600 discussed below in connection with FIG.6. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a harddrive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor612, but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively beexecuted by a device other than the processor 612 and/or embodied infirmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program isdescribed with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5,many other methods of implementing the example watermark system 200 mayalternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocksmay be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed,eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all ofthe blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g.,discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, anASIC, a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit,etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation withoutexecuting software or firmware.

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a compiled format, an executable format, a packaged format, etc.Machine readable instructions as described herein may be stored as data(e.g., portions of instructions, code, representations of code, etc.)that may be utilized to create, manufacture, and/or produce machineexecutable instructions. For example, the machine readable instructionsmay be fragmented and stored on one or more storage devices and/orcomputing devices (e.g., servers). The machine readable instructions mayrequire one or more of installation, modification, adaptation, updating,combining, supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression,unpacking, distribution, reassignment, compilation, etc. in order tomake them directly readable, interpretable, and/or executable by acomputing device and/or other machine. For example, the machine readableinstructions may be stored in multiple parts, which are individuallycompressed, encrypted, and stored on separate computing devices, whereinthe parts when decrypted, decompressed, and combined form a set ofexecutable instructions that implement a program such as that describedherein.

In another example, the machine readable instructions may be stored in astate in which they may be read by a computer, but require addition of alibrary (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit(SDK), an application programming interface (API), etc. in order toexecute the instructions on a particular computing device or otherdevice. In another example, the machine readable instructions may needto be configured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addressesrecorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or thecorresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, thedisclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s)are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/orprogram(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machinereadable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at restor in transit.

The machine readable instructions described herein can be represented byany past, present, or future instruction language, scripting language,programming language, etc. For example, the machine readableinstructions may be represented using any of the following languages: C,C++, Java, C #, Perl, Python, JavaScript, HyperText Markup Language(HTML), Structured Query Language (SQL), Swift, etc.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

As used herein, singular references (e.g., “a”, “an”, “first”, “second”,etc.) do not exclude a plurality. The term “a” or “an” entity, as usedherein, refers to one or more of that entity. The terms “a” (or “an”),“one or more”, and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein.Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means,elements or method actions may be implemented by, e.g., a single unit orprocessor. Additionally, although individual features may be included indifferent examples or claims, these may possibly be combined, and theinclusion in different examples or claims does not imply that acombination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous.

The example method 400 of FIG. 4 begins as the client facility 142and/or the data processing facility 140 of FIG. 1 is generating mediacontent in the form of a watermarked multilayered encoded file. In theillustrated example, the client facility 142 is defining a watermarkwith a client identifier that is to be encoded in a multilayeredwatermark. In some examples, the watermark defines content information(e.g., copyright information, viewing information, etc.), as well ascorresponding time stamp information. The time stamp information conveyswhat specific portions of the media content are being viewed anddetected by the media device monitor 125.

In this example, at block 402, the watermark logger 204 receives a mediaidentifier from the client facility 142 via the network 135. In theillustrated example, media content is produced at the client facility142 and assigned time-stamped media identifiers associated with a knownclient identifier of the client facility 142. In some examples, theidentifiers of the media content are provided with associated contentinformation (e.g., artist, program, title, program title, etc.).

At block 404, the encoder 206 of the illustrated example defines a firstbit sequence on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark toidentify a client. In this example, the first bit sequence correspondsto a client identifier. In some examples, the data processing facility140 assigns and/or provides different client identifiers to multiplerespective clients associated with the data processing facility 140.

At block 406, the example encoder 206 defines a second bit sequence on asecond encoding layer of the multilayered watermark to identify a mediasource and/or content. In this example, the second bit sequencecorresponds to a media identifier which can, in turn, include time stampinformation. In some examples, a portion of bit sequences of the mediaidentifier, the time stamp and/or the client identifier are placed ontoseparate encoding layers of the multilayered watermark.

At block 408, in some examples, the timer/counter 210 defines and/orencodes a timestamp onto at least one of the first or second encodinglayers and the process ends. In other examples, time stamp informationis integrated with the media identifier.

The example method 500 of FIG. 5 begins as the media device monitor 125provides information pertaining to a watermark to the data processingfacility 140. In some examples, the media device monitor 125 decodes andtransmits the watermark to the data processing facility 140.Additionally or alternatively, the media device monitor 125 parses outthe watermark and transmits the watermark to the data processingfacility 140 for subsequent processing thereof.

At block 502, the watermark logger 204 receives the watermark and/ordata pertaining to the watermark from a detector, such as the mediadevice monitor 125, for example. In this example, the watermark isreceived including a first bit sequence (e.g., a first set of symbols)of a first encoding layer of the watermark and a second bit sequence(e.g., a second set of symbols) of a second encoding layer of thewatermark.

At block 504, the watermark identifier 208 reads and/or parses the firstbit sequence of the first encoding layer. In this example, the first bitsequence corresponds to a client identifier. In some examples, theclient identifier enables a search pattern (e.g., via a narrowed searchpattern) for the corresponding media content to be identified, therebyconserving computational resources.

At block 506, the watermark detector 208 reads and/or parses the secondbit sequence of the second encoding layer. In this example, the secondbit sequence corresponds to a media source identifier (e.g., a mediaidentifier and/or a timestamp information associated with mediacontent). In this example, time stamp data is part of the media sourceidentifier.

At block 508, in some examples, the timer/counter 210 reads and/ordetermines time stamps encoded onto at least one of the first or secondencoding layers.

At block 510, the watermark identifier 208 identifies a client from thewatermark. In particular, the watermark identifier 208 identifies theclient based on the client identifier encoded onto the first encodinglayer.

At block 512, the watermark identifier 208 identifies a media sourcefrom the watermark and the process ends. In this example, the watermarkidentifier 208 identifies a portion of the media content with acorresponding timestamp.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 600structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 4 and 5 to implement thewatermark system 200 of FIG. 2. The processor platform 600 can be, forexample, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learningmachine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, asmart phone, a tablet such as an iPad), a personal digital assistant(PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CD player, a digital videorecorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, a personal video recorder,a set top box, a headset or other wearable device, or any other type ofcomputing device.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 612. The processor 612 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 612 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, orcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor implements the example watermark logger 204,the example encoder 206, the example watermark identifier 208 and theexample timer/counter 210.

The processor 612 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 613(e.g., a cache). The processor 612 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 614 and anon-volatile memory 616 via a bus 618. The volatile memory 614 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 616 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 614, 616is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 620. The interface circuit 620 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 622 are connectedto the interface circuit 620. The input device(s) 1022 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 612. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 624 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 620 of the illustrated example. The output devices 624 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printerand/or speaker. The interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 620 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 626. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 600 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 628 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 628 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 632 of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be storedin the mass storage device 628, in the volatile memory 614, in thenon-volatile memory 616, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that enabletime-efficient watermarking of media signals, files, etc. Examplesdisclosed herein enable media content providers/producers to assignclient-assigned watermarks, thereby enabling a significant number ofunique watermarks to be used across many of the media contentproviders/producers. Some examples disclosed herein reduce overhead ofdata processing facilities by shifting media identifiers to clients(e.g., media producers, media distributors, etc.). The disclosedmethods, apparatus and articles of manufacture can improve theefficiency of using a computing device and enable more computationallyefficient identification by utilizing more efficient searching of knownwatermarks based on narrowed search fields pertaining to clients. Thedisclosed methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture are accordinglydirected to one or more improvement(s) in the functioning of a computer.

Example 1 includes an apparatus to watermark a multilayered fileincludes a watermark storage to store media identifiers. The exampleapparatus also includes an encoder to encode a first bit sequence in themedia file on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, thefirst bit sequence to include a client identifier of a client associatedwith the media file, and encode a second bit sequence in the media fileon a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the second bitsequence to include a media identifier to identify media correspondingto the media file.

Example 2 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, furtherincluding a transceiver communicatively coupled to a client facility,the transceiver to receive the media identifier from the clientfacility.

Example 3 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, where theencoder is to encode a time stamp on at least one of the first encodinglayer or the second encoding layer.

Example 4 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, where theencoder is to encode the first bit sequence and the second bit sequenceon the first encoding layer and the second encoding layer, respectively,at periodic intervals.

Example 5 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, where themedia file includes an audio file, and the first encoding layer and theseconding encoding layer corresponding to a first audio encoding layerand a second audio encoding layer, respectively, of the audio file.

Example 6 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, where at leastone of the client identifier or the media identifier is encoded on thefirst encoding layer and the second encoding layer.

Example 7 includes the apparatus as defined in example 1, furtherincluding a watermark identifier to identify at least a portion of themedia file by appending the second bit sequence to the first bitsequence.

Example 8 includes a method of watermarking a media file for lateridentification of at least portions thereof including encoding, byexecuting instructions with at least one processor, a first bit sequencein the media file on a first encoding layer of a multilayered watermark,the first bit sequence to include a client identifier of a clientassociated with the media file, and encoding, by executing instructionswith the at least one processor, a second bit sequence in the media fileon a second encoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the second bitsequence to include a media identifier to identify media correspondingto the media file,

Example 9 includes the method as defined in example 8, further includingencoding a time stamp on at least one of the first encoding layer or thesecond encoding layer.

Example 10 includes the method as defined in example 8, where the firstbit sequence and the second bit sequence are encoded onto the firstencoding layer and the second encoding layer, respectively, at periodicintervals.

Example 11 includes the method as defined in example 8, where the firstbit sequence and the second bit sequence are defined onto the firstencoding layer and the second encoding layer, respectively, at apredetermined number of bits for the first encoding layer and the secondencoding layer.

Example 12 includes the method as defined in example 8, where the mediafile includes an audio file, and the first encoding layer and the secondencoding layer corresponding to a first audio layer and a second audiolayer, respectively, of the audio file.

Example 13 includes the method as defined in example 8, furtherincluding identifying the media of the media file by appending thesecond bit sequence to the first bit sequence.

Example 14 includes the method as defined in example 8, where the atleast one of the media identifier or the client identifier is defined onthe first encoding layer and the second encoding layer.

Example 15 includes the method as defined in example 8, where the mediaidentifier includes a time stamp.

Example 16 includes a non-transitory computer readable medium comprisinginstructions, which when executed, cause a processor to at least encodea first bit sequence in a media file on a first encoding layer of amultilayered watermark, the first bit sequence to include a clientidentifier of a client associated with the media file, and encode asecond bit sequence in the media file on a second encoding layer of themultilayered watermark, the second bit sequence to include a mediaidentifier to identify media corresponding to the media file.

Example 17 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium asdefined in example 16, wherein the instructions cause the processor toencode a time stamp on the second encoding layer.

Example 18 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium asdefined in example 16, where the first bit sequence and the second bitsequence are encoded onto the first encoding layer and the secondencoding layer, respectively, at periodic intervals.

Example 19 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium asdefined in example 16, where the first and second bit sequences areencoded onto the first and second encoding layers, respectively, at apredetermined number of bits of the first encoding layer and the secondencoding layer.

Example 20 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium asdefined in example 16, where the instructions cause the processor toappend the second bit sequence to the first bit sequence to identify themedia corresponding to the media file.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

The following claims are hereby incorporated into this DetailedDescription by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to watermark a media file, theapparatus comprising: a watermark storage to store media identifiers;and an encoder to: encode a first bit sequence in the media file on afirst encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, the first bit sequenceto include a client identifier of a client associated with the mediafile, and encode a second bit sequence in the media file on a secondencoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the second bit sequence toinclude a media identifier to identify media corresponding to the mediafile.
 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including atransceiver communicatively coupled to a client facility, thetransceiver to receive the media identifier from the client facility. 3.The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the encoder is to encode atime stamp on at least one of the first encoding layer or the secondencoding layer.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein theencoder is to encode the first bit sequence and the second bit sequenceon the first encoding layer and the second encoding layer, respectively,at periodic intervals.
 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, whereinthe media file includes an audio file, and the first encoding layer andthe seconding encoding layer corresponding to a first audio encodinglayer and a second audio encoding layer, respectively, of the audiofile.
 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe client identifier or the media identifier is encoded on the firstencoding layer and the second encoding layer.
 7. The apparatus asdefined in claim 1, further including a watermark identifier to identifyat least a portion of the media file by appending the second bitsequence to the first bit sequence.
 8. A method of watermarking a mediafile for later identification of at least portions thereof, the methodcomprising: encoding, by executing instructions with at least oneprocessor, a first bit sequence in the media file on a first encodinglayer of a multilayered watermark, the first bit sequence to include aclient identifier of a client associated with the media file; andencoding, by executing instructions with the at least one processor, asecond bit sequence in the media file on a second encoding layer of themultilayered watermark, the second bit sequence to include a mediaidentifier to identify media corresponding to the media file.
 9. Themethod as defined in claim 8, further including encoding a time stamp onat least one of the first encoding layer or the second encoding layer.10. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein the first bit sequence andthe second bit sequence are encoded onto the first encoding layer andthe second encoding layer, respectively, at periodic intervals.
 11. Themethod as defined in claim 8, wherein the first bit sequence and thesecond bit sequence are defined onto the first encoding layer and thesecond encoding layer, respectively, at a predetermined number of bitsfor the first encoding layer and the second encoding layer.
 12. Themethod as defined in claim 8, wherein the media file includes an audiofile, and the first encoding layer and the second encoding layercorresponding to a first audio layer and a second audio layer,respectively, of the audio file.
 13. The method as defined in claim 8,further including identifying the media of the media file by appendingthe second bit sequence to the first bit sequence.
 14. The method asdefined in claim 8, wherein the at least one of the media identifier orthe client identifier is defined on the first encoding layer and thesecond encoding layer.
 15. The method as defined in claim 8, wherein themedia identifier includes a time stamp.
 16. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising instructions, which when executed, cause aprocessor to at least: encode a first bit sequence in a media file on afirst encoding layer of a multilayered watermark, the first bit sequenceto include a client identifier of a client associated with the mediafile; and encode a second bit sequence in the media file on a secondencoding layer of the multilayered watermark, the second bit sequence toinclude a media identifier to identify media corresponding to the mediafile.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined inclaim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processor to encode a timestamp on the second encoding layer.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium as defined in claim 16, wherein the first bit sequenceand the second bit sequence are encoded onto the first encoding layerand the second encoding layer, respectively, at periodic intervals. 19.The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 16,wherein the first and second bit sequences are encoded onto the firstand second encoding layers, respectively, at a predetermined number ofbits of the first encoding layer and the second encoding layer.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 16, whereinthe instructions cause the processor to append the second bit sequenceto the first bit sequence to identify the media corresponding to themedia file.